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There is no time for despair

You're can't attend any gathering these days - dinner party, conference or bus shelter - without hearing the Fourth Estate receive a good kicking. I attended a conference last month at which the media took a savage shoeing from a senior ad man for being such a bunch of Cassandras and resolutely ignoring all those green shoots of recovery that we see springing out everywhere through the frozen lawns.

The subject of our profile this month, the serial entrepreneur and C4
chairman Luke Johnson, is not only a leading member of the business
community but also a part-time, and accomplished, member of the media
via his weekly FT column. As someone with a foot in both camps, he's
well placed to make a useful prognosis for the UK economy. 'It's really
tough out there,' he told me. 'I suppose the real fear is that this
downturn is not cyclical but structural and, if that's the case, what
are the permanent changes to our standard of living that we'd better get
used to? I can't predict the future, but if the sort of struggle that so
many firms and individuals are now facing is the new "normal", that's
quite scary.' Yet, like any true entrepreneur, he's an optimist and
admits he's on the lookout for bargains.

We, too, think it's scary but not a time for despair. That's why, while
keeping a lookout for those green shoots, we'll try to keep your spirits
up with sound advice. Our Brainfood section in particular is now focused
on practical tips and suggestions to help ease the pain until the
upturn. And next month, in a special edition, we'll be bringing help
from those grey-haired members of the business community who have been
through - and survived - serious downturn before. We're thinking of
calling it the 'Are You Experienced?' issue.

One subject on which the media went into a frenzy of fear-creation
nearly a decade ago was genetically modified food. In possibly its
finest hour since it accused Labour in the 1920s of being funded by the
Soviets, the Daily Mail ran headlines suggesting that GM not only
threatened our mental health but would harm Britain's unborn babies. We
think it's time for a GM rethink, as our feature proposes, not least
because we can longer afford the alternative. Organics look more and
more like an inefficient bourgeois fad.

By contrast, our 35 Women Under 35 list - to be updated in July - is
here to stay. If you would like to nominate a relatively youthful
high-flying female for the legendary hall of fame, get in touch with
emma.devita@haymarket.com by 1 May.